It’s no surprise that Hillary triangulates
Iraq the way her husband does, just
disappointing. I wish she would show us
the way out, but she can’t or won’t, and
no one else has suggested a good way.
Some say she looks political rather than
principled. I disagree. The lack of a strong
stance against the war could cost her the
nomination. I’m not [...]

House leadership listens to constituents
instead of contributors and vows to take up
an enforcement-only immigration bill.
Bush wants one that includes guest workers –
like police ignoring breaking and entering laws
until people promise to leave their doors open.
Of course he has noble motives: avoid riling
Latino voters or forcing business to pay wages
high enough to attract workers here legally.

The Justice department will no longer
ignore the recommendations of career
staff attorneys on Voting Rights cases,
as they did in Texas and Georgia.
They won’t let them make any.

I’ve never been a fan of Rumsfeld,
but if Joe Lieberman is going to
take over, I would prefer to stay
with the nut we know rather than
the one who helped elect Bush.
To solve the myriad of problems
this administration created in Iraq,
we need another Houdini – someone
who can finesse difficulty the way
the current secretary does the truth. [...]

A Democratic congressman said
passage of the immigration law,
considered by a committee today,
would spell the end of fresh produce
and disrupt the hospitality industry.
Any business person who can’t pick
lettuce, make beds or wash dishes
without exploiting foreign workers
should find another career – perhaps
they could retire or run for congress.

Condoleezza Rice is soothing
ruffled feathers on EU doves
by clarifying US policies on
rendition and interrogation.
Each time she elaborates Bush
sounds more reasonable. She
makes the case for evolution
instead of intelligent design.

Bush proved again today
that he has nothing new to say
about the war we’re fighting in Iraq.
He repeats that things are going well,
though we’ve had to make adjustments,
but if we leave, awful things will happen.
Since he’s been wrong about everything else,
this might be the perfect time to go.
Maybe we’ll get sweets and flowers.

Republicans love to call Howard Dean
mean, and Democrats don’t want him out
front, but he’s right, and like it or not, we
need Democrats with his ideas in sight.
Bush and Cheney are as stupid as their war.
Instead of worrying about who supports the
troops they should worry about saving them –
like making a plan for their safe departure.
The [...]

Ten hard-working citizens offered unanimous
recommendations for making the country safer.
Now they want to give Bush a “report card.�
The administration won’t supply documents
or submit to interviews because: “There is
ample public information available for them
to review about all of the actions we continue
to take to better protect the American people.”
Doesn’t he know what grade that [...]

Democrats don’t need to agree on one plan
for Iraq, no matter what they decide to say
Republicans will run the same old play.
Liberals won’t get a chance to clean up after
Bush for years, by then the mess will be so great
they’ll need all the ideas they can generate.

The DNC solves
election problem with a
“people of faith� group,
and another for
military families.
Dean should scream again.

Alito has said the Constitution does not
protect the right to abortion, but asserts
his personal opinions wouldn’t influence
his interpretation of the Constitution.
If he doesn’t deserve a filibuster for
being completely out of the mainstream
of public opinion, he deserves one for
refusing in advance to do the job.

I say that is not a fair description of what his Newsweek column calls the “rising clamor in Washington to get out of Iraq.� People cry out, not in panic, but in disgust at leadership that can’t define victory, much less predict how or when it might occur.
Bush was in baseball, but never learned that [...]

The President’s “Plan for Victory”
gives me no reason to doubt the conclusion
I draw from James Fallow’s article
in the December Atlantic:
we cannot build a viable Iraqi army.
Nancy Pelosi courageously endorsed John Murtha’s
call for redeploying troops as quickly as we can
consistent with their safety. Maybe the rest
of the Democrats will abandon their proposed theme:
make 2006 a “significant [...]

When Bush discussed progress in Iraq
he forgot to mention fixing the news.
To tell the people how well off they are,
we plant favorable stories in local papers.
If we can control the flow of information
why can’t we do the same for electricity?
The trick would be to disguise power lines
and transformers the way we do the truth